Showing large fowl vs. Bantams

[greathorse]

I will for sure do that. I can tell you that the last show I went to I struck up a great conversation with one of the breeders there and it was so informative. I show draft horses as well and have always beleive that our industry is one that is quite open if the curiosity is polite and genuine.

I am beginning to see that poultry show folks are very similar. At least I hope so.

I did not show at the most recent one but sort of hung out long enough to see who the very nice birds belonged to and this guy was just awesome.

Thanks again

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Well, all I can say is for myself.

I have always and will always prefer largefowl. But, I "believe" several breeders choose bantams for these reasons:

More birds in a smaller area
Birds are more accessible/easier to condition
Costs less to feed them

Again...conditioning. I'm sorry, but it is simply easier to keep one bantam in a cage built for either bantam or largefowl than it is to keep a largefowl bird (especially one that will be very large) in a single or even double-coop. At shows, a bantam does not get nearly as torn up as a larger largefowl bird.

I know that bantams have their own issues at shows, especially the Leghorn and Cubalaya bantams, but hopefully you can see my own reasoning.

Condition is oftentimes why a bantam will win over a largefowl bird at a show.


I've said my bit, now I'm ready for the onslaught that I'm sure will come from the bantam breeders and exhibitors.

I have nothing against bantams...I have several breeds that I'd like to eventually keep! Bantam Dark Cornish are at the top of that list...

 

[greathorse]

I like the large fowl myself, but am beginning to understand the interest in Bantam. I understand the element of less feed and less space.

Whey do you beleive that LF (aside from the cost) are harder to condition? Do they simply respond less quickly to the good feed and better conditions? I have about 10 RIR lf in one pen all getting very good feed, at least the best I can concoct and they seem to be doing ok. Should these birds be in single coops for final conditioning? I have a lot to learn that is for sure

Thanks for the response and I sure hope you get your horse back or get paid for him one of the two.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Let me explain...

Many breeders will put their show birds in separate coops. Several of them use show cages so the birds can get accustomed to the show coops and learn not to freak out in them. I mean, if they live in them, it's not exactly a huge change.

Largefowl birds cannot be kept in the show coop cages, especially those with long tails or tall tails. The feathers are shred within a few hours. The same thing works in reverse as well. A bird that is not conditioned, at a show, will doubtlessly "freak out" and could pull feathers, shred tails, wings, combs, wattles, etc.

A bantam bird, such as an OEG, is able to be kept in a show cage built for bantams or largefowl and do perfectly well.

Again, this is just my opinion on the matter.


Thanks for the support greathorse! I hope to get him back soon...I must admit I'm losing hope.

 

[greathorse]

Thanks that was great all makes sense, the more I learn the less damaging my mistakes should be.

Seems like one will need to consider quite carefully the system to get these birds to a show. What a bummer to get there and find out your nice cock has shredded his tail on the ride.

 

[call ducks]

i have bantams , i have just set my frist LF eggs. around here there are more LF then bantams at shows .

 

[rarebreedeggs4u]

If I get brave enough to show, I only have one type of bantams, so I'll be showing LF.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
Which is another thing to consider. Whereas you can take say, 15 small cages in a car, you can at LEAST cut that in half with largefowl. Then there's the issue that many largefowl males need a double-cooping arrangement at the show. Most bantams do not need the double-cooping, so that's a bit cheaper.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
Which is another thing to consider. Whereas you can take say, 15 small cages in a car, you can at LEAST cut that in half with largefowl. Then there's the issue that many largefowl males need a double-cooping arrangement at the show. Most bantams do not need the double-cooping, so that's a bit cheaper.

I show both, but if I could only take one "size" I would prefer to show the large fowl. It's just so rewarding for folks to walk by and exclaim - "WOW! That's a bird chicken!"

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Darn right. I'd rather get the "huge eyes" then "awwww it's so cute!" any day!